Unhelpful Help
by Emi-Lynn
Summary: The SecNav throws a monkey wrench in the new family's lives. 4th in the AALCSLT, 3 chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Unhelpful Help

"Glad you could join us, Gibbs."

Choosing to ignore the sarcasm in Jarvis' voice, Gibbs walked up to the group at Vance's conference table as Vance tried to soothe things over. "Yes, Agent Gibbs, thank you for coming back from your vacation to help with this situation. Let's see if we can get this solved and get you back to it."

Jarvis was still in a mood. "Leave a beach bunny somewhere, Gibbs?"

Silently chucking at the memory of the stuffed bunny that was part of Tiana's tea party that morning, Gibbs shrugged as he pulled his chair up to the table. "Yeah, something like that."

"Not that I don't appreciate the work your Cybercrimes Department does, Leon, but I want Agent McGee in on this as well."

"Unfortunately, Agent McGee is out on bereavement leave. I'm sure that Mr. Jackson and..."

"Bereavement leave? Who the hell died?"

Vance lifted a hand to convince Gibbs to let him handle it, but Jarvis wasn't finished. "I get regular updates from Admiral McGee on the project he's running for me. I'm pretty sure I would have heard if he'd had a death in the family."

"McGee's got family beyond that old windbag." Jackson realized who he'd mouthed off to and sunk down in his chair as the SecNav stared at him. "Sorry, Sir."

"Is there a problem with Admiral McGee that I should be aware of?"

"Of course not." Vance jumped in before the meeting fully derailed. "However, I don't believe he and his son are particularly close. Agent McGee's ex died a few days ago, leaving him a single father. I'm sure we can give them a few more days at least to get settled."

Vance's brittle smile showed that he hoped the discussion was over, but Jarvis stared at him. "I'm surprised the Admiral has never mentioned a grandchild when I've asked about his family..."

"She's four, they went seven years without speaking." Several heads turned at Gibbs' pronouncement. "Think the math speaks for itself. Beyond that, it's McGee's decision."

"The man has a right to know he's a grandfather."

"Like I said, McGee's decision."

Jarvis finally dropped the subject and laid out the case involving missing weapons and hacked access codes. "No offense to your geeks, Leon, but the boys in the Pentagon's basement have been trying to get a jump on these guys for months now. They're blitz attacks, coordinated between their hackers and the people they've got on the ground. By the time our guys are in, they're already done and out and the weapons are gone. We need more than geeks, we need geeks with the right training and a team that can work with them. In other words, your team, Gibbs."

"Minus McGee."

"You're missing the point, Gibbs."

"Not at all, Mr. Secretary. You've just handed us twelve individual break-ins spread out over the last eighteen months. That's a lot of records, a lot of evidence, a lot of everything to go through before we can make our next move. While we're doing that, McGee can consult from home with Jackson's team. Your people have been chasing their tails for eleven months, you can give us a few days to get up to speed."

"Don't let me down, Gibbs."

Gibbs stood, without bothering to respond, and led his team out of the room. At a subtle jerk of his head from Vance, the Cybercrime delegation scurried after them.

-NCIS-

It had taken the better part of the day to even begin to sort out the evidence. Every break-in had been on a different base, even a few Army bases had been thrown into the mix along with Navy and Marine Corps. Only three of the crime scenes had been properly swept for evidence early enough as most base commanders never connected their computer glitches with a miscount in their armory in time.

A conference call between Cybercrimes and McGee netted a long list of more information needed from every targeted base. Abby wanted surveillance from every base for a much wider time range than Jarvis' Pentagon boys had asked for. Tony and Ziva decided to request all the possible personnel files right up front to save time. By the time Gibbs had everything in motion, and Vance had all the ruffled feathers smoothed over, it was 21.00, early enough for Vance to rush home for a few minutes with his kids, but well past Tiana's bedtime. Gibbs drove by the house anyway, but the lights were off. Feeling a rare loneliness, he went home to sand his boat.

-NCIS-

Gibbs arrived back at the McGee house bright and early with a bag of fresh fruit. Smirking, Tim traded him the bag for an empty cup and Gibbs poured himself a cup of coffee as Tim washed, then added the fruit to the wire basket. The fruit basket had been moved to the kitchen island, the first of several subtle changes he'd made as he and Tia had settled into their home.

Tia was already at her spot, sitting in the tall stool at the breakfast bar that made up one side of the island. She tilted her head up and Gibbs obligingly kissed her forehead before sitting down next to her. "So what's Daddy fixing you for breakfast, Shortstuff?"

"Hulk juice, it makes me strong." She gave a pretty good impression of a body builder's pose before nodding. "You should have some, too."

The corner of Gibbs' mouth twitched at her antics and serious expression. "Oh, I should?"

"Yep." She pursed her lips as she nodded. "That way you'll be strong and can keep Daddy safe."

Both men froze at the casual mention of his safety. Gibbs gave a subtle nod to McGee before answering her. "I'd love to have some Hulk juice so I can be strong and keep Daddy safe." Curious as to what he'd agreed to, Gibbs turned his attention to what McGee was putting in his fancy blender.

Tim didn't say a word, but he carefully watched the silver eyebrow go up as various ingredients went into the jar of his blender. Some thawed, frozen juice concentrate, both halves of an apple with only the stem removed and a lime didn't get much of a reaction, but the baby kale and spinach leaves certainly did. A large wedge of cabbage was next and then a chunk of pineapple followed by a handful of ice. Thirty seconds later he was pouring three glasses full of the bright green concoction.

When Gibbs agreed to a glass of Hulk juice he'd assumed Tim would be fixing some sort of protein drink, in reference to the muscles of the Hulk, he never dreamed it would be named for the Hulk's bright green color. Tiana happily took her plastic cup and started slurping her smoothie, so he bravely took his tall glass. "Cheers, McGee."

"Cheers, Boss." Tim let his glass clink against Gibbs' then quickly lifted it to his mouth to hide his grin. Judging from the expression he wasn't quite hiding, Gibbs was expecting the worst.

Gibbs took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and gulped down a large swallow. The first flavor to register was the lime, with the sweetness of the pineapple chiming in right behind it. The fruits totally overpowered the flavors of all the vegetables. There was no dairy, but the finely crushed ice gave it the same feel to his mouth. He gave Tim a surprised look. "That's really good. Heck, throw in a little tequila and we could have this at night."

Tim couldn't help but laugh at the relieved expression. "Yeah, we could."

-NCIS-

After breakfast Tim sent Tia to play before turning to Gibbs. "Let me guess, leave's been canceled."

"Not yet, but we need to talk about your family. What do they know about Tiana?"

Tim closed his eyes for a second before starting to clean up in the kitchen. "Sarah knows the official version. She's in Japan teaching right now, but I've spoken to her since Tia moved in."

"And Penny?"

"Penny is a lot like Abby. Means well, but doesn't always know when to stop. She'd be convinced that the Admiral should know."

"And he shouldn't?"

"No."

"Problem is that the SecNav has the same idea. Told him it was your choice, but..."

"Crap." Leaning against the sink, Tim dropped his head. "I don't need this, Tia doesn't need this."

"Wish I had an easy answer for you, McGee."

"Yeah, me too."

-NCIS-

"Thank you for the update, Admiral McGee. I'll be looking forward to the final results. How's the family? Your kids?" Jarvis always asked the question, it was part of his political make-up, but this time he listened closer to the answer.

_~Scattered. Sarah's off finding her self, or whatever it is young people do nowadays, in Japan and of course Timothy is in DC. You probably know more about him at the moment than I do.~_

"Yes, well, I've got his team working with me right now, but he's out on leave, I'm afraid. Too bad, he'd be a big help right now."

_~Cancel his leave.~_

"Some forms of leave can't be over-ridden. Civilians have collective bargaining rights, you know. He's consulting over the phone with his replacement, so I guess that will have to do. Thank you, again, Admiral. Let me know when you're ready for the next round of testing."

-NCIS-

"I'll back you, whatever you decide, but it might be easier to go ahead and face him, get it over with."

"His approval is something I don't need. Let's face it, that's something I haven't had in a long time, but his disapproval is something Tiana doesn't need, either. Especially not now, not so soon after losing Grace. "

"You sure he'll disapprove?"

"He's breathing, of course he'll disapprove of a decision I made." Knowing he had to explain further, Tim refilled their coffees before he sat next to Gibbs at the island. "When you were a kid, did you ever overhear a conversation between your parents that you wish you hadn't?"

"Guess you did."

"Mom had a health scare when Sarah was a little younger than Tia. Dad was getting ready to ship out and they fought about it. She wanted him to request a stateside assignment in case, well, in case things didn't go well. He was quite clear that he had no intentions of becoming a single father. Maybe that was his way of telling her he didn't want to lose her but..."

"But that's not the way a kid would have heard it."

"Yeah. Anyways, Penny came to stay with us and he shipped out right on schedule. Nothing ever interfered with his career goals."

"Even his family?"

"Especially his family. We were supposed to know better." Tim turned to look Gibbs directly in the eye. "I don't want Tia to ever feel like that."

"She doesn't. You're doing a great job with her."

"Thanks, and thanks for coming to tell me about the SecNav and the Admiral."

"Forewarned is forearmed, McGee. Either of them give you any trouble, you come to me, all right?"

McGee nodded, grateful for the back-up. He'd come to rely more on Gibbs in the last few weeks than anyone else in his life, ever. "When's the next briefing with Jarvis?"

"13.00"

"I'll be there."

-NCIS-

"Well?"

"I'm sorry, Sir, the details of your son's leave are in a sealed file."

"Sealed?"

"I'll see what else I can find out, Admiral McGee."

Once his aide left the office, Ronald McGee picked up his phone and dialed an overseas number. "Mother, have you spoken to Timothy recently?"

_~No, not for several weeks. Why?~_

"He's out on leave while the rest of his team is personally working with the SecNav. If he... if he were ill, he would confide in you, correct?" There was a short pause before she answered.

_~Of course he would.~_

"And you would tell me." This time the pause was longer as she obviously had to think about it.

_~Unless he asked me not to.~_

"Mother, this is important."

_~Perhaps it's time you said that to Timothy.~_

The Admiral stared at the phone long after the call ended.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, look who's here." The rest of the team looked up at Gibbs' announcement to see McGee and Tiana come off the elevator. After hugging her Papa, Tia greeted everyone enthusiastically, pirouetting around to show off her outfit for Ziva.

"You look very pretty today, Tiana. Do you and your daddy have special plans?"

"Actually her plans are with me." Ducky's arrival from the back elevator took everyone's attention away from the front elevator, allowing Jarvis to arrive unnoticed for the moment.

Tia squealed and ran to her adoptive grandfather. "Grandpa Ducky, Grandpa Ducky, are we really going to a tea house?"

"We most certainly are, my dear." Ducky smiled as he took the keys Tim handed him. "Thank you, Timothy, I will take good care of both of them."

"Well, aren't you a pretty little thing?" Jarvis ignored the adults in the group and bent down to smile at Tia before turning to McGee. "So, this is the little girl I've been hearing about?"

Tim made the introductions but didn't encourage any informality. "Mr. Secretary, this is my daughter, Tiana Caitlin McGee. Tia, this is our boss, Mr. Jarvis."

She frowned at what her father had just said, stumbling over the big word. "But I thought his name was Mr. Sec-a-tary?

A flurry of smiles were covered up at Tim stammered out an answer. "Sweetheart, Mr. Jarvis is the Secretary of the Navy. He's in charge of the entire Navy and all of the Marine Corps, so Mr. Secretary is his official title."

"Oh, okay." And just like she'd been taught, Tia stepped forward and held out her hand. "Hello."

Jarvis bent down and formally shook her hand. "Hello, Miss Tiana. That is a very pretty name for a very pretty little girl. So you're off to high tea with Grandpa Ducky?"

Today's single poof bounced as she nodded. "We're going to have tea and lumpets."

"Lumpets?" They all watched as Jarvis struggled to contain his smile, a rare human moment for him. "That sounds delicious. I have a grandson about your age. Sometimes I take him to the ball park for hotdogs and popcorn."

As Jarvis straightened up, Ducky edged in to take Tiana's hand. "Well, we must be off, don't want to be late and miss our reservation."

As the group made their way upstairs, Jarvis worked his way over to walk next to McGee. Gibbs saw what he was doing and stayed close, but silent, letting Jarvis make the first move.

"Becoming a grandfather brought me closer to my son. Something you might want to keep in mind when you consider your own father, Agent McGee."

Tim stopped at the head of the stairs, staring at the SecNav before shaking his head. "He hated Grace, Sir, hated everything about Tiana's mother."

Jarvis wasn't expecting that, he'd assumed the Admiral had never the met woman. "I wasn't aware they had any dealings. Was it because she was black? If one of my advisers is a racist, Agent McGee, I have a right to know."

"No." Tim had a faraway look on his face as he shook his head. "As far as my father is concerned, Grace committed one unforgivable sin and it happened years before Tiana was in the picture. Grace taught me to stand up to him and to follow my own dreams, even if they weren't his."

"Let me guess, he wanted you to follow in his footsteps, join the Navy."

"Had my whole life planned out for me, right down to my future classes at Annapolis. When I was still in my teens, Grace taught me to stand up for myself and he never forgave her for that."

"Time can change a man, McGee."

"True, but we just buried Grace and my priority has to be our little girl, not my father's possible middle age crisis." His line in the sand firmly drawn, McGee stepped into the conference room, ending the conversation, not noticing the proud look on Gibbs' face.

-NCIS-

Ducky had been thrilled when Tim called, asking him to spend a few hours with Tiana. He agreed completely with the younger man's concern that it was too early for Tia to return to child care. He'd also heard from Gibbs about the SecNav's earlier interest in the child. Ducky didn't understand Tim's concerns regarding his biological family, but he trusted that Tim was making the decision for all the right reasons.

All of his mother's friends had passed on before her, but he was still close to many of their families and Juliette Scarborough had been happy to put together a quick, child friendly meal at her tea house.

"Hello, Donald." Julie took his hands and kissed him on the cheek.

Ducky smiled and returned the kiss. "Juliette, my dear, it has been far too long. Let me introduce my granddaughter, Tiana."

Tiana had been staring in awe at the perfectly decorated Victorian tea house. It reminded her of the fairy tales she loved and just like the princesses in the stories, she curtsied when the introductions were made, much to the older woman's delight.

Smiling, Juliette returned the curtsy. "Oh, aren't you adorable." She looked back over at her old friend. "Victoria would have spoiled her rotten, so we'll just have to do it for her."

-NCIS-

Listening to the information his teammates had put together on the raids so far gave Tim several ideas which were incorporated into the possible plans of attack he and Johnson laid out for the SecNav. The guys from Cybercrimes had done a great deal of work, but it became quite evident what different approaches there were between the strictly desk bound geeks and when that knowledge was combined with ten years of field experience.

"Thank you, Agent McGee. I appreciate you canceling your leave."

Tim held his ground. "Actually, I haven't canceled it, Mr. Secretary, but I have worked out a light schedule with Director Vance where I will mostly overseeing the computer operations from home."

"Your daughter seems to be coping well."

"For the most part, she is. She is also always with adults she considers family, but only for a few hours at a time. The rest of the time she's with me, at home. I will help the investigation all I can, Mr. Secretary, but I won't sacrifice my daughter for it."

"And that is perfectly acceptable." Vance stepped in, giving his official approval to the plan. "We won't ask for any more than that."

"Of course." No one could tell if Jarvis was happy or not, but at least he appeared to accept the restrictions.

-NCIS-

Juliette Scarborough loved every part of her business, but her absolute favorite thing was providing a first tea when one of her long time customers brought in their child or grandchild for a first visit. Since Donald Mallard was one of her nearest and dearest friends, it was a double pleasure.

In deference to Tiana's young age, her tea cup was filled with warm, sweetened milk flavored with just a splash of tea as plates of treats were set on the table. Scottish style fruit crumpets, as requested by Donald, were surrounded by tiny sandwiches of chicken salad, scones with Devonshire cream and lemon curd, miniature sweet potato biscuits filled with ham and strawberry preserves, fresh fruit slices and a platter of assorted cookies.

Ducky expected Tia to only be interested in the sweets, but he placed one of each item on her small plate. Much to his surprise, she went straight for the biscuit with the ham and with two bites it was gone. "Did you like that?"

"Mmm, good. Ham's one of my favorites. Daddy put one in the crack pot today."

"Really?" Ducky had to think for a moment. "A crock pot?"

Tia's head bounced as she smiled. "Yep." She carefully lifted her cup, awkwardly pointing her little finger as she tried to imitate the adults in the room.

Ducky reached over and helped her adjust her grip before she took a sip of her 'tea'. "I didn't know that your daddy cooked at all."

"Daddy's a good cooker, better than Mommy." Her chin wobbled a bit, then she smiled. "Used to make Mommy mad sometimes."

"Remembering funny stories is a wonderful way to remember the people that are no longer with us. Why, I remember the time my mother..."


	3. Chapter 3

"That's it." Tim leaned over Johnson's shoulder to point out what he had discovered. "That's the moment they target a base."

He already had his phone out, calling Gibbs. "Got something." Nothing else was said, but he knew that would get his boss and the Director down from Vance's office in a hurry. By the time he'd returned to his own desk and pulled the information up on the plasma, the two men had arrived.

"Let's see it."

"The cyberattack actually starts six weeks earlier than the Pentagon thinks." McGee let the Director study his findings for a moment before explaining it to Gibbs while Tony and Ziva listened from their desks.

"Every year there's literally thousands of attempts made to hack into various DOD computer servers. Ever since the movie _War Games_ came out, it's like a rite of passage for teenage hackers."

"Speaking from personal experience there, Probie?"

"Not answering that, Tony." McGee grinned and kept speaking. "This one attack gets apparently bounced away like all the rest, but a hidden kernel makes it through to the old, outdated back-up servers at the base. It's a worm that stays dormant for two weeks, then goes to work, creating a back door that gets the hackers in when they're ready. They're only targeting bases that haven't had the scheduled upgrades."

Vance was already thinking through the possibilities. "Can we track it?"

"Already working on it, Sir." Tim checked with his helpers from the sub-basement before turning back to Vance. "We should be able to tell you not only the target but within an hour of when they plan to attack."

"NCIS – one, Pentagon geeks – zero."

Laughter ran through the room and Vance deliberately didn't look to see who had spoken what they all were thinking. Instead, he checked the time with McGee. "How much longer can you stay?"

"Jared has a sleepover at a friend's tonight, right?"

"Yes." Vance was trying to determine not only how McGee knew that, but what it had to do with McGee's daughter.

Tim smiled. Tiana had been so excited on the phone when she and Ducky had called him and he'd told her the plans. "Girl's night at your place, Tia's been invited. They're having manicures and watching _Ella Enchanted_. Ducky's dropping her off there after their tea. According to Jackie, any male that shows up before the appointed time will end up with pink nails."

Vance instinctively shoved his hands into his pockets. "Well, then, I guess it's boy's night here. No offense, Agent David."

"None taken, Sir."

Ziva couldn't quite hide her smile and Tony grabbed his phone. "All right, I'll order the pizza."

-NCIS-

"This had better be good, Director Vance." Jarvis swept in, obviously on his way to a formal event, as he straightened his bow tie and his cuffs.

Vance didn't waste any time. "Five more raids are in the works, the first will be at the Blue Grass Army Depot in nineteen days, seven hours."

The look on Jarvis' face was something they would remember for a long time. Finally, the man smiled and took off his topcoat. "All right, talk me through it and somebody hand me a slice of pepperoni."

-NCIS-

"Is it safe?"

Jackie looked up and laughed at the three men who walked in, their hands buried deep in their pockets. "Polish is all put away, you're safe."

"Just checking." Vance smiled at the image his wife made, curled up on the sofa with both girls. "You ladies have a good time?"

"We did." Jackie shifted enough to let Tim lift his sleeping daughter. "Tim, there's a bag of chocolate chip cookies on the table for you to take home."

"Thanks, Mrs. Vance. I appreciate this. I hope she wasn't too much trouble."

Lily answered before her mother could. "We had fun. Can Tia come again?"

"You bet, but I think it's time to get this little lady home to bed."

Jackie smiled and helped Gibbs gather Tia's belongings. "She's had a busy day, so she should sleep good tonight for you. Did you guys make any progress on the case?"

Leon had already found the plate of cookies Jackie had left him. "Progress? They already broke it open. Should have seen the look on Clayton's face when our nerds did in one day what the Pentagon's nerds couldn't do in months. Man, I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he informs the Joint Chiefs what we've done."

"I just hope he remembers when our budget for the technology upgrades are submitted."

"Don't worry, McGee. I'll remind him what you and your team did today and tell him that you specifically requested the items on the list. That should do it." Vance was holding the plate tight against him, but at one look from Jackie, he held it out, offering a cookie to Gibbs.

Gibbs smirked at how quickly the plate was tucked away after he'd taken the one offered cookie. "So McGee can finish his leave, now?"

"Don't see why not. In fact, after we battle out jurisdictions with the Army CID, you can even finish your vacation."

"Appreciate that, Leon." With a fast move, Gibbs snagged one more cookie before picking up Tia's go bag and following McGee out the door, leaving Jackie and Lily to laugh at Leon's disgruntled expression.

Jackie let him sulk for a few more minutes, and then when the two cars pulled away she lifted a pillow, showing a second plate of cookies. Leon landed on the sofa, pulling Jackie close and nibbling on her neck. Lily laughed at her parents and scrambled out of the way.

"Hey, guys, Tia is as close to a baby sister as I want right now."

-NCIS-

Tia barely woke as she was carried inside and put to bed, just enough to demand kisses from her daddy and papa. Once she was settled, Tim went into the kitchen and turned the crock pot off. "You hungry? There's plenty."

Gibbs just grinned so Tim put him to work making a pot of coffee while he loaded two plates with sliced ham and slow roasted sweet potatoes from the crock pot. When he pulled out salad makings, Gibbs shook his head. "How about a Hulk with a kick after dinner instead?"

"Okay." Tim opted not to question how much, if any, nutritional value was lost when it became a cocktail, but decided the fact that he was probably the only person in the world that could get Gibbs to willingly eat spinach and kale was a win in his favor.

Dinner was fairly quiet as the two men reflected on the successes of the day and Jethro waited patiently for any scraps to land on the floor. After sneaking the dog a treat, Gibbs rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher. While he was doing that, Tim packed the leftover food into the refrigerator and made up a batch of the smoothie, this time with a generous dose of tequila added in.

Retreating to the living room, Gibbs once again made himself comfortable in the recliner, prompting a memory for McGee. "I was going to ask you the other day – why were you sleeping in the recliner instead of on the sofa?"

"My ex-wife has slept on that sofa, McGee. I'm not laying down on it until you have it fumigated."

Tim started laughing so hard he started choking on his drink. "She's not that bad, Boss."

"You haven't lived with her, McGee."

Tim shuddered at the thought. "And I'm not planning on it. One night in the same room was more than enough. Believe me."

"Oh, I believe you. Still not sleeping on that damn sofa, though."

"It's too small for this room, anyways. Thinking about replacing it with one of those big, deep sectionals."

"Good."

And like that, the decision was made.

-NCIS-

After Gibbs left, Tim took Jethro out one last time before locking up the house. No matter how much he'd prefer to keep his two families separate, Tim knew his carefully balanced plan was in danger. It wasn't in his father's nature to just show up, but Penny was an entirely different matter. Another decision made, Tim picked up his phone. It was early tomorrow afternoon in Sydney, so he had a good chance of catching her at her hotel. She picked up on the third ring.

_~Hello?~_

"Penny, it's Tim."

_~Timothy, darling, I've been thinking about you all day. Your father asked me some very strange questions about whether I would tell him if something was wrong with you. There isn't, is there?~_

"I'm fine, Penny, but I have had a life change – one the Admiral probably won't approve of."

_~Is this why you're out on leave?~_

"I'm out on bereavement leave, Penny. Grace died."

_~Sweetheart, I know she was a good friend to you, but...~_

"We had a child together, Penny, and now I have full custody of my four year old daughter."

_~A child? You're saying that you become a father four years ago and didn't think to mention it to any of us. Are you sure it's yours? Have you had testing done?~_

"Penny, I am only going to say this once. Tiana is my daughter. I knew about her existence from the moment Grace found out she was pregnant. She didn't trick me, she didn't force me into anything. Until my father is ready to accept me and the life I've chosen, I don't want my parents involved. Tiana just lost her mother, she doesn't need someone even suggesting that my life would be better without her. Is that understood?" There was a long silence before Penny answered him.

_~I hear you, Timothy. How on Earth are you going to manage, though? What happens when your leave is over?~_

"Everything is handled, Penny. She's set up at the child care aboard the Yard and with emergency child care that's available round the clock, plus the Director's wife loves spending time with her and Grandpa Ducky and..."

_~Grandpa Ducky?~_

Tim thought that would get her attention. "While I met with the SecNav this afternoon, Tia and Grandpa Ducky had a proper afternoon tea together. I'm not sure who had more fun."

_~You're really doing this, aren't you?~_

"Yeah, Penny, I am." There was a long pause before Tim heard a sigh over the phone.

_~All right, what can I do?~_

"Love her, accept her – and help keep the Admiral away from us."

_~You know, this might just be the thing to get him off his high horse.~_

"No. I need him to accept me as I am, first, before I trust him with Tiana. She's already been through enough."

_~All right, Sweetheart, I'll run interference for you, but he's already getting worried about you.~_

"Worried about me, or worried that I might be, once again, failing to live up to his standards?" Tim pinched the bridge of his nose when his grandmother fell silent. "Until I'm absolutely, one hundred percent certain of the answer, I don't want him to be part of this."

Penny didn't have an answer for him and Tim ended the call. He'd learned early in life to pick his battles and this one wasn't ready. Nope, his next battle would be the day after tomorrow when he met with Grace's lawyer since her mother was bound to make an appearance. Exhausted suddenly, Tim went to bed, wishing he'd asked Gibbs to stay over again.

* * *

**a/n - In the press releases, etc for _Knockout_, when Vance's family was first introduced, his daughter was originally named Lily. Then in _The Good Son_ she became Kayla (with a different actress). In this universe her full name is Kayla Lillian Vance. Lillian is for her late grandmother, Lily is her mom's nickname for her. When we reach a certain point in the series (and canon) that will become a major point.**


End file.
